In the pre-digital age of photography, practitioners explored the concept of illusion by staging scenes and darkroom manipulation as well as by careful positioning of their subjects and their cameras. This selection of images includes work by Richard Avedon, Lotte Beese, Karl Blossfeldt, André Kertész, Arthur Tress, Ruth Hollos, Erich Consemüller, Minor White, Louise Dahl-Wolfe and Emmanuel Rudnitsky.

The Center for Creative Photography is the premier research collection of American photographic fine art and archives, promoting creative inquiry, dialogue, and appreciation of photography’s enduring cultural influence.